US Deputy Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus has delivered an ultimatum to the Lebanese government demanding that they form committees to participate in direct negotiations with Israel by month’s end or face an escalation of US-backed Israeli attacks on Lebanese...
Iraqi Tribal Council Proposes Volunteer Force to Fight HTS in Syria
Syria’s Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led government and its role in the massacre of well over a thousand civilians, mostly Alawites, in the northwest earlier this month continues to loom large not just internally but in Syria’s relationship with the...
Israeli Armored Vehicles Sweep Into Syria’s Quneitra In Largest Incursion Yet
With growing focus on Israel’s resumption of hostilities against the Gaza Strip, the country has continued its military aggression elsewhere in the region as well. In Syria, there are more attacks, and an even bigger ground invasion. Israel first started invading...
Ceasefire in Doubt as Syrian Troops Occupy Lebanon Border Village, Burn Homes
Yesterday’s clash at the border between the Lebanese Army and the Syrian Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government’s forces seemingly ended with a ceasefire overnight. Eight Syrian soldiers were killed in the Monday fighting, along with five (some unconfirmed reports say...
Turkey Kills Family of Nine in New Attacks on Syrian Kurds
Turkey and its auxiliaries continued its attacks on the territory of Syrian Kurds overnight, with a Turkish airstrike against a farm just south of Kobani leaving nine people in the Othman Abdo family dead. Most of the slain were reportedly children. Turkey and its...
New Fighting Erupts at Syria-Lebanon Border as HTS Shells Lebanese Village, Deploys Tanks
Updated 3/17/2025 11:34 PM EDT The Lebanon-Syria border has been mostly quiet for the past month after a brief incursion by Syria’s government, the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in early February. Now there is renewed fighting in the exact same area after HTS...
Three Civilians Killed in Israeli Strikes in Southern Lebanon, DM Vows Troops Will Remain
Israel continued to carry out airstrikes against southern Lebanon throughout the weekend, despite Israel making much of the border dispute negotiations last week, which they claimed could lead to “normalization” between Israel and Lebanon. At least three civilians...
Major US Attacks in Northern Yemen as Trump Vows ‘Overwhelming Lethal Force’: 24 Killed
Updated 3/15/25 11:39 PM EDT US airstrikes are reportedly hitting the Yemeni capital city of Sanaa today, with President Trump promising “overwhelming lethal force” against the Houthi movement in northern Yemen unless they stop all attacks on international shipping....
Syria Placed Under Islamist Rule for Five Years by New Interim Constitution
In December, the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over Syria in an internationally-backed offensive. HTS was formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) before that. Today, their leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammad...
Israeli DM: Occupation of Southern Syria Will Continue for ‘Unlimited Time’
When Israel invaded Syria in December, it announced the intention to remain at Mount Hermon, along the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) region on the Syrian side of the border, through 2025. That appears to have been just the start, as Israel has taken more...